


one two three

by copernicusjones



Category: Harvest Moon, Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Dancing, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Mentions of Rose/Rutger, Music, Only rated T because of one suggestive remark from Lillian, Otherwise saccharine and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-13 21:21:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19259404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copernicusjones/pseuds/copernicusjones
Summary: Mikhail prefers to live life letting the music guide him.   He's not the only one.





	one two three

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this post](https://akiseyu.tumblr.com/post/182992999228/since-in-my-game-file-mikhail-seemed-to-have) on tumblr.

"This isn't what I meant by 'practice'," Mikhail whispered, reluctantly pulling away from kissing his girlfriend of two years.  
  
Lillian looked up at Mikhail, biting back a grin but keeping her arms tight around him. "Then maybe you should have made yourself clearer. Sorry that I wanna make up for lost time with my boyfriend that I haven't seen in forever."  
  
"You saw me yesterday," he reminded her.  
  
"Yeah, I _saw_ you but this is our first _date_ since you got back. I spent all summer thinking about what we were gonna do." Lowering her arms, Lillian let Mikhail slip away so he could retrieve his violin from its case.  
  
"Oh?" Mikhail smiled over at her as he rosined his bow. "And what sort of activities did your wild imagination concoct?"  
  
"If I started listing them, we'd be here all day and I wouldn't get to hear you play." Lillian folded her arms behind her back, pretending to be every part the innocent as her voice turned more girlish. "Bu- _ut_ let's just say most of them involved your classically trained fingers."  
  
Heat crept up Mikhail's neck as he averted his gaze from her and began tuning his violin. It'd be dishonest of him to claim he hadn't entertained the same thoughts, but all the same, Lillian could be so brazen at times that it made him blush. Mikhail didn't consider himself a prude, but he'd never been in a relationship with a woman as bold as Lillian. It only served to make him love her more, all these attributes of her that inspired him both as a person and a musician. She was the very definition of "muse."  
  
Which is what Mikhail needed more than anything, with the Music Festival only a few days away. It was his first time playing for Bluebell, having spent the previous two years in Konohana. But perhaps he was getting himself worked up for nothing. Only a week behind him, and Bluebell already felt like home just as much as Konohana had. Lillian was there, and so it was where he belonged.  
  
Lillian dropped down to sit on Mikhail's bed, picking up the half-eaten box of matcha soft chocolates that she'd brought along. It'd been his birthday gift to her—a dozen boxes of them—sent to her during the last week of summer, since he couldn't be there to celebrate with her. He hadn't the heart, or quite frankly, the lack of common sense to ask her what number box this was.  
  
"So what'cha gonna play for me?" Lillian asked after swallowing another chocolate. Her violet eyes were wide with anticipation, as always when Mikhail offered to play. He'd never once questioned how genuinely invested she was in his passion for music, the same fire he saw in her when it came to both cooking and her animals.  
  
"It's a waltz, called 'Autumn in Norad'," he said, stationing the violin at his shoulder. "I learned it years ago, when I was but a novice, but I've never played it for an audience. Actually, I haven't played it at all in quite some time, so forgive me if I'm rusty."  
  
Lillian laughed lightly. "You're forgiven, maestro."  
  
They held each other's gazes a moment longer, and then Mikhail closed his eyes and launched into the song. It wasn't a terribly complicated tune, but it required the musician to not fall into the trap of most waltzes, of lulling into the song's pace and losing the verve and depth of emotion behind it.  
  
Time became meaningless whenever Mikhail immersed himself into song, and this was no exception. The violin was the star here, and he a mere extension, blessed with the ability to draw stories from its strings. On he played, ensconced in the warmth the waltz conveyed. His mind projected an image much like a movie, with the atmospheric melody as the backdrop: he and Lillian hand-in-hand as they walked along the mountaintop, framed by swirling leaves in their blazing red and golden yellow hues.  
  
And then, Lillian _was_ grabbing at him, at the sleeve of his jacket.  
  
" _Listen_!" she stage-whispered, gaze panning upwards towards the ceiling along with a pointed finger.  
  
Mikhail did as instructed, which required that he stop playing. Normally he would have been irritated beyond words to be interrupted, but Lillian wouldn't have done so without reason. That, and it wasn't as though the music had gone anywhere. No, it had transferred itself to the ceiling of his room.    
  
To the floor of Rose and Rutger's home.  
  
_CLOP clop clop, CLOP clop clop_ went the footsteps above him, the same tempo as a waltz—as _the_ waltz he'd just been playing, that his fingers still itched to complete.  
  
"It's Rose and Rutger!" Lillian's explanation was needless, but the glee radiant on her face... no, Mikhail couldn't be the least upset that she'd bothered to tell him as much.  
  
"Well, I would certainly hope so; that is, I'd believe that over it being Grady and Howard."  
  
With a laugh, Lillian backed away and began stepping in three-four, triangular pattern, humming Mikhail's waltz as loud as she could.  
  
"That is the _cutest_ thing I've ever seen. Or heard. Or whatever, it was _adorable_!" She spun around a few times, sailing further away and speaking as she did. "They're like, goals, Mikhail. Seriously, when I grow up, all I wanna be is one half of a precious old couple."  
  
"You're already on your way, it would seem." Mikhail watched her with the utmost admiration. "You've the 'precious' part down pat."  
  
"Goddess, you're smooth, you know that?" Coming to a halt, Lillian stretched an arm out, wiggling her fingers at Mikhail. "Come on, join me. Let's see if you're still this smooth on your feet."  
  
"You must make up your mind." He took her hand as best he could with his bow in it, tugging her close. "I can either dance with you, or I can keep playing. Even I'm not so talented that I can do both at once."  
  
"Okay, fine, then keep playing. You know I could listen to you all day. Besides, I gotta burn all those chocolates off somehow!" As if all the strenuous work she put in at her ranch wasn't enough exercise to keep her in shape.  
  
A vision of them some forty-odd years from now, doing exactly what they, and what Rose and Rutger, were doing this very second—enjoying each other's company, rewriting everyday interactions into one unforgettable memory after another—flashed through Mikhail's mind.  
  
"Don't fret over it, my muse." Mikhail twirled Lillian, then released her and sent her lazily rotating away from him. Her dress fluttered out like a Casablanca bouquet. "I have the feeling we'll have a special dance all to ourselves in the very near future."  
  
Lillian stalled mid-pirouette, stumbling and nearly falling. A frozen moment, shock written across her face before rushing back over to Mikhail. Rising to her toes, she cupped her hands to his cheeks and planted a soft yet purposeful kiss upon his lips just as _CLOP_! echoed from above. "One." Then another _clop,_ another kiss. "Two" And one more of each. "Three."  
  
"One, two, three," she repeated, slowly drawing away. "One, two, three..."  
  
Brilliant smile intact all the while, Lillian continued to keep time out loud until it was lost in the mellow warmth that rose from Mikhail's violin.  
  
Whether it was later this year after saying their vows, or when they were as old as Rose and Rutger, Mikhail had no doubt his future with Lillian would be a duet filled with perfect harmony.  And so, he played on as skillfully as he could, an accompaniment to the beautiful symphony of Rose and Rutger's footsteps overhead and Lillian's laughter surrounding him.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Just trying to shake off the writing cobwebs by writing a quick fluffy one-shot about my fave bachelor from ToTT! goshDANG do I love Mikhail yet this is my first time writing him. I was so happy to marry him in my girl file (even though I purposely proposed in late spring so our wedding would be in Summer lmao). He's just so sweet.
> 
> The waltz Mikhail plays is a REFERENCE to the Autumn town theme in Rune Factory 4 but it can be whatever you imagine it (it's been so long since I've played an instrument RIP), as I don't believe that song technically classifies as a waltz. But I imagined it with a similar feel to it.
> 
> Anyway hope you enjoyed this mindless self-indulgence! Kudos and comments are always appreciated. :3


End file.
